Mcdonough



March 17, 1964 1.. MODONOUGH" BOAT BEACHER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 25, 1962 INVENTOR. LAPPY "Goa/V006 BY w bwz/z A7'70RNEYS.

March 17, 1964 L. MGDONOUGH 3,125,351

BOAT BEACHER Filed April 25, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR. LARRY McDONOL/GH ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,125,351 BOAT BEACHER Larry McDonough, 529 E. Florence Ave., West Covina, Calif. Filed Apr. 23, 1962, Ser. No. 189,504 6 Claims. (Cl. 280-4713) This invention relates to a boat beacher for use in moving boats across solid surfaces and in removing boats from water.

Heretofore the moving of a boat onto a beach or across a solid surface has been extremely dithcult. The underside of a boat is easily damaged, and the beaching of a boat on a rocky or gravelled shore ordinarily results in scraping away of the protective paint on the underside of the boat or even more serious damage. Beaching of inboard boats having an exposed shaft and a fixed rudder has heretofore been virtually impossible because of the high probability of damage to the shaft and rudder. Ordinarily, a pleasure boat is beached only temporarily while the owner is ashore, and only the bow of the boat is removed from the water. In bodies of water having a current, such as a river, the stern of the boat has tended to be carried downstream and in doing so has sometimes carried the entire boat back into the water.

Most pleasure boats are ordinarily carried upon trailers, but at times it becomes necessary to remove the boat from the trailer while on dry land, for example when either the trailer or the boat requires repairs or other maintenance work. In such cases it has been necessary for the boat to be unloaded upon a driveway, with resultant probable damage to the underside of the boat, or to be unloaded onto the boat oWners lawn, requiring backing of the trailer onto the grass. In either case, the boat, once unloaded, became virtually immovable unless lifted by several men and carried from one place to another. Since the underside of a boat is seldom flat, the boat also could not be easily supported in a level position.

This invention resolves these difficulties, providing apparatus for beaching a boat without scraping the underside of the boat on the shore, and for holding the stern of the boat in place until it is again desired to place the bow back into the water. The apparatus also permits a boat to be easily rolled across solid surfaces by one person without damage to the underside of the boat, while on dry land.

Briefly, this invention provides two rolling support members adapted to support the underside of a boat. The support members are arranged to roll between the underside of the boat and the solid surface across which it is desired to transport the boat. Many pleasure boats have a downwardly extending keel at the middle of the underside of the boat, and thus in use the two support members are disposed on opposite sides of the middle of the boat underside. The support members are joined together by a keel-holding member which cooperates with the adjacent portions of the support members to define a keel-receiving zone, in which the keel is placed to be supported by the keel-holding member. The keel-holding member may be adapted to receive and support a plurality of shapes of boat keels, as well as fixed shafts and the like extending below the boat underside.

This invention will be more clearly understood with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention, with portions partially broken away;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention, with portions partially broken away;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of 3,125,351 Patented Mar. 17, 1964 the present invention, with portions partially broken away;

FIG. 4- is a schematic view of a boat being supported by a boat beacher and illustrating the coaction of the boat keel and keel-holding member according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a boat being beached using a boat beacher according to the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a boat being transported across a solid surface using two boat beachers according to the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a boat beacher according to the present invention adapted for use with a deep-keeled boat. First and second substantially identical support members 16 and 11 are separated by keel-holding member 15 disposed therebetween. In the preferred form, support members 19 and 11 are spherical in shape, although they may be cylindrical or even cone-shaped. Each of the support members 10 and 11 contains a rolling portion, indicated generally at 14, which in use is arranged to rest upon and roll across the solid surface across which it is desired to move the boat, and also to support and roll along the underside of the boat, the boat-engaging part being opposite the part of the rolling portion 14 resting upon the solid surface. The rolling portion 14, therefore, in any embodiment must have a circular cross-section transverse to the longitudinal axis of the boat beacher. The rolling portion 14 may be independently rotatable about each support member 1%) and 11 if desired, and thus support members 10 and 11 may be of any desired shape so long as they carry a rolling portion 14'rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the boat beacher, whose outer surface presents a circular cross-section transverse to such longitudinal axis.

The spherical form for support members 10 and 11 is preferred, however, for ease and simplicity of manufacture, for durability, and because the curved outer surface rolls more easily across sandy or rocky surfaces, pushing larger rocks out of the way rather than rolling over them.

In the preferred form, support members 10 and 11, and keel-holding member 15, are joined together along the longitudinal axis of the boat beacher by a shaft 20. The ends of shaft 20 are threaded and secured by nut 22, which may each carry a ring 21 for attachment of pulling ropes (not shown). Preferably, the shaft 20 extends beyond the outer surfaces of support members 10 and 11, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, a sufiicient distance for attachment of two bolts 24 at each end, having a rotatable bracket 23 disposed therebetween for attachment of pulling ropes. The shaft 20 is attached with sufiicient tightness to hold all of the members of the boat beacher together whereby it rotates as a unitary structure, in the preferred form. However, it may be advantageous in turning corners and the like while rolling a boat on the boat beacher, to have the support members 10 and 11 independently rotatable about the shaft 26, and this modification is within the scope of the present invention.

The longitudinal axis of the boat beacher may be referred to as a reference axis, coincident with the axis of shaft 20 in the drawings, and passes through the center of each support member 1t and 11 and the center of keel-holding member 15. It will be apparent that in the event it should be desired, shaft 20 may be omitted and the support members 10 and 11 and keel-holding member 15 bonded together in any suitable manner or formed as a unitary structure, so long as all are arranged along the reference axis, as described.

Keel-holding member 15, as shown in FIG. 1, is in the general shape of a cylinder, having end portions adapted to complement or fit the adjacent portions of support members Ill and 11. The outer surface of keel-holding member 15 presents a circular cross-section transverse to the longitudinal axis of the boat beacher, and defines a groove adapted to receive the keel of a boat. Keelholding member 15 and the adjacent portions of support members It and 11 define a keel-receiving zone, indicated generally at 16, adapted to receive the downwardly extending midsection and keel of a boat.

The diameter of any circular cross-section of keelholding member 15 is shorter than the diameter of the rolling portion 14 of each of the support members It and 11, in order to permit keel-receiving zone 16 to be defined. By shortening or lengthening the diameter of keel-holding member 15, a plurality of shapes of keelreceiving zones 16 may be formed, for example, FIG. 2 illustrates a keel-holding member 15 having a longer diameter than keel-holding member 15 of FIG. 1, forming a shallow keel-receiving zone 16' for more nearly flat-bottomed boats. FIG. 4 illustrates the manner in which the keel 19 of a boat, indicated generally at 25, rests in keel-receiving zone 16 defined by keel-holding member 15 and the adjacent portions of support members and 11. The underside 26 of the boat 25, being higher than the keel 19, rests upon the rolling portions 14 of support members 10 and 11.

Any suitable weatherproof and durable material may be used in constructing a boat beacher in accordance with the present invention. In the presently preferred embodiment, support members 10 and 11 are made from an inner core comprised substantially of pressed wood 12, coated with an external shell of tire-grade rubber 13. Keel-holding member is molded from a hard rubber 17 while the shaft 20 is metallic. It is advantageous that the materials chosen be sufficiently heavy to sink in water, to assist in placing the apparatus during beaching, but be as light as possible, consistent with ability to sink, for ease in handling.

FIG. 3 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention, adaptable to supporting a plurality of shapes of boat keels. The keel-holding member 15 is made from a resilient material 18 which is adaptable to being deformed to fit around the keel of a boat, springing back to its original shape after removal of the keel therefrom. Keel-holding member 15 is suitably bonded to support members 10 and 11 to form a unitary structure. Thus keel-receiving zone 16" may assume a plurality of shapes.

For average pleasure boat usage, it has been found that the preferred diameter for the rolling portion 14 of support members 10 and 11 is approximately eight inches, with the inner core of pressed wood 12 having a diameter of six inches and the external rubber shell 13 being approximately one inch in thickness.

FIG. 5 illustrates the positioning of the boat beacher during beaching. The boat beacher is dropped into the Water 27 as the boat nears the shore 23, at a point wherein the depth is sufficiently shallow for the underside 26 of the boat 25 to engage the support members It and 11 when resting on the bottom. The bow of the boat 25 is then pulled over the boat beacher and onto shore. In doing so, some of the weight of the boat 25 is carried by the boat beacher, which rolls toward the shore while the boat underside also rolls over the boat beacher. It is apparent that with each revolution of the rolling portion 14 of the support members It and 11, assuming for example an eight inch diameter for rolling portion 14, the boat beacher will travel approximately twelve and onehalf inches along the bottom toward the shore 28. The boat 25 will be carried that distance, but will also have rolled about the circumference of the rolling portion 14 to travel an additional twelve and one-half inches toward the shore 28. Therefore by proper placement of the boat beacher, the bow will be pulled onto the shore 28 and the stern of the boat 25 will have traveled to a position adjacent the boat beacher, at a time when the boat beacher remains in the water 27. Thus the stern of the boat rests at least a part of its weight upon the support members 10 and 11 and is thereby unaffected by any current in the water 27 which would otherwise carry the stern downstream. By using a pair of boat beachers under the boat, the bow may be held away from contact with the shore 28 and the boat 25 may be easily pulled completely out of the water.

FIG. 6 illustrates the use of a pair of boat beachers according to the present invention in transporting a boat across a solid surface 29 on dry land. The procedure is similar to that described with reference to FIG. 5. It has been found that one man may easily move a boat as illustrated using three boat beachers, removing each boat beacher as it reaches the stern of the boat and placing it again at the how.

I claim:

1. A boat beacher for use in moving boats across solid surfaces and in removing boats from water, comprising:

(a) first and second substantially identical support members for supporting the underside of a boat on opposite sides of the keel of the boat,

(b) a keel-holding member for supporting the keel of a boat,

(c) the keel-holding member being disposed between the support members and joined thereto along a reference axis passing through the center of each support member and the center of the keel-holding member,

(d) the support members each including a rolling portion whose cross-section transverse to the reference axis is circular, each rolling portion being rotatable about the reference axis to roll along its circumference,

(e) the keel-holding member having a circular crosssection transverse to the reference axis, the circular cross-section having a diameter smaller than that of the rolling portions of the support members,

(7) the keel-holding member and the adjacent portions of the support members cooperating to define a keelreceiving zone for receiving and supporting the downwardly extending keel and midsection of the underside of a boat while the boats underside is engaged by the rolling portions of the support members.

2. A boat beacher according to claim 1 wherein the first and second support members are spherical in shape and the rolling portion of each sphere comprises that portion thereof having the longest diameter in the direction transverse to the reference axis.

3. A boat beacher according to claim 1 wherein the rolling portion of each support member and the remainder of the support member are integral, and rotate together about the reference axis.

4. A boat beacher according to claim 1 wherein the keel-holding member is made from a resilient material adapted to be compressed to fit around the keel of a boat being supported thereby, and to return to substantially its original shape after the keel is removed therefrom.

5. A boat beacher for use in beaehing and transporting boats across solid surfaces, comprising:

(a) first and second substantially identical spherical support members for supporting the underside of a boat,

(b) an elongated keel-holding member disposed between the support members and joined thereto along a reference axis passing through the center of each support member and the center of the keel-holding member,

(0) the keel-holding member having a circular crosssection transverse to the reference axis, with its longest diameter being shorter than the longest diameter of the support members.

(d) the keel-holding member and the support members cooperating to define a keel-receiving zone adapted to receive and support portions of a boat extending 3,125,351 5 6 downwardly between the portions of the boat under- References Cited in the file of this patent side being supported by the support members. UNITED STATES PATENTS 6. A boat beacher according to claim 5 wherein the Re. 24,272 Albee Feb. 12, 1957 keel-holding member 1s made from a resllient material 1 412 691 Lincoln Apr 11 1922 adapted to be compressed to fit around the keel of a boat 5 2541928 Loomis 1951 being supported thereby, and to return to substantially its 4'411 giflii 1 Sept. 1956 original shape after the keel is removed therefrom. 310391629 Cole June 19 1962 

1. A BOAT BEACHER FOR USE IN MOVING BOATS ACROSS SOLID SURFACES AND IN REMOVING BOATS FROM WATER, COMPRISING: (A) FIRST AND SECOND SUBSTANTIALLY IDENTICAL SUPPORT MEMBERS FOR SUPPORTING THE UNDERSIDE OF A BOAT ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE KEEL OF THE BOAT, (B) A KEEL-HOLDING MEMBER FOR SUPPORTING THE KEEL OF A BOAT, (C) THE KEEL-HOLDING MEMBER BEING DISPOSED BETWEEN THE SUPPORT MEMBERS AND JOINED THERETO ALONG A REFERENCE AXIS PASSING THROUGH THE CENTER OF EACH SUPPORT MEMBER AND THE CENTER OF THE KEEL-HOLDING MEMBER, (D) THE SUPPORT MEMBERS EACH INCLUDING A ROLLING PORTION WHOSE CROSS-SECTION TRANSVERSE TO THE REFERENCE AXIS IS CIRCULAR, EACH ROLLING PORTION BEING ROTATABLE ABOUT THE REFERENCE AXIS TO ROLL ALONG ITS CIRCUMFERENCE, (E) THE KEEL-HOLDING MEMBER HAVING A CIRCULAR CROSSSECTION TRANSVERSE TO THE REFERENCE AXIS, THE CIRCULAR CROSS-SECTION HAVING A DIAMETER SMALLER THAN THAT OF THE ROLLING PORTIONS OF THE SUPPORT MEMBERS, (F) THE KEEL-HOLDING MEMBER AND THE ADJACENT PORTIONS OF THE SUPPORT MEMBERS COOPERATING TO DEFINE A KEELRECEIVING ZONE FOR RECEIVING AND SUPPORTING THE DOWNWARDLY EXTENDING KEEL AND MIDSECTION OF THE UNDERSIDE OF A BOAT WHILE THE BOAT''S UNDERSIDE IS ENGAGED BY THE ROLLING PORTIONS OF THE SUPPORT MEMBERS. 